Insight on Kashmir publishes content written by women of Kashmir that reflects their achievements, concerns, and hopes. In Jammu and Kashmir, women are the most vulnerable and worst-hit section of the society especially under situations of violence caused by militancy and armed conflict. They don’t only suffer from intense humiliation and harassment but also undergo traumatically
experiences with prolonged depression making them mentally sick.
Women in both parts of the divided state of Jammu and Kashmir have been active participants in political movements.
The trend is as old as the region’s political identity as an independent state. Historically, women played a pivotal role during the agitation and political strife against the Dogra regime and various other movements.
Begum Akbar Jehan was the head of Red Cross in Jammu and Kashmir after the Jammu Massacre
In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, most women have been active in politics after taking comparatively an easy route of reserved slots in the Legislative Assembly.
From a total 4 million population, Azad Jammu and Kashmir has over 50 per cent female population.
However, traditionally and culturally the region dominates the conservative trends when it comes to give women equal opportunities to participate in electoral process.
As a matter of fact, during the recent elections of the AJ & K Legislative Assembly, out of a total of over 700 candidates only 20 women were contesting on general seats.
In 2016 polls, out of 423 candidates, only eight were women who contested elections on the general seats. Of them, only one woman managed to win.
PML-N’s Noreen Arif, PPP’s Farzana Yaqoob, and PTI’s Taqdees Gilani are the familiar faces in local political circles in Azad Kashmir.
However, during the recent elections, women challengers of the status quo have proved that peoples’ behaviours and priorities about women participation in politics are changing.
JKDP’s Nabila Irshad and PTI’s Gulzar Fatima can be considered challengers to a majorly male dominant political setup in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Gulzar Fatima is among one of those Kashmiri women politicians who are mesmerised by the political ideology of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
She is an active member of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Before stepping into the politics, she has been actively participating in the movements of social change in the society .
In past, she has worked as Secretary Pakistan Red Crescent –AJK chapter. Her political career spans over two decades. She has been a member of the AJK legislative assembly.
She has been advocating for good governance, fighting against injustice and corruption besides highlighting the silent role of AJK Government for the Kashmir cause.
She is a true believer in transparency and fair practices in politics. She is a fan of the charismatic leadership of her party head Prime Minister Imran Khan and fully supports his Political vision, ideology and struggle. The charisma of Imran Khan motivated her to join the PTI.
Ever since she decided to part ways with Pakistan People’s Party to join PTI she has been very active and vocal in politics of Azad Kashmir.
As soon as she joined the party , she was nominated as the president of the women wing to organize the party in AJK.
This was not an easy job to organize a party on gross root level at such time when Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was governing party in the centre and Pakistan People’s Party in AJK.
Moreover, it was difficult to mobilize women of AJK and persuade them to participate in the party’s politics because of local tribal customs and bigotries.
Gulzar Fatima with Dr Nosheen Hamid, Senator Seemi Aizdi, Reema Imran (Wife of the governor Sindh) and others during a visit of Karachi.
However, despite the absence of a strategic plan and a conducive environment for launching the party besides a poor relationship with the central command of PTI, she successfully enrolled women of every age group in the party in every district.
She managed to organize the party on a grass root level by establishing basic units of the party despite the general public was uncertain about the future of the Party.
She arranged the oath-taking ceremony of central body AJK in Muzaffarabad.
In the election year of 2016, apparently everything was set for PML-N, but Gulzar Fatima campaigned door to door for the success of her party candidates.
During the 2016 election of AJK, she was also nominated member of the “Election Manifesto Committee” of PTI.
Despite of the hurdles and challenges facing a woman politician in a highly patronising and conservative social environment, she regularly participants in all meetings of the party.
He recommendations were incorporated in PTI’s election manifesto of 2016.
During the protests in Islamabad , a heinous propaganda campaign was launched by the opposition parties to malign her party’s image and distance women from its struggle, she played a positive leadership role by not bowing in front of the pressure.
Soon after her party head came to Muzaffarabad to address a public gathering, she ensured maximum participation of women in the program to counter the opposition’s propaganda.
She participated in Imran khan’s program of “Islamabad Chalo” and reached Banigala along with many people despite hurdles placed by the then government.
She attended almost all rallies, protests and jalsas on call of the leadership.
Gulzar Fatima has been vocal on various issues of political and social importance. She has been regularly appearing on various national television channels to spread her party’s vision at the grass-root level.
During the 2021 election campaign in AJK, she organized a women convention for the support of the party’s candidate in her constituency.
She has been travelling extensively in all three divisions of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and participating in every public gathering.
She has successfully mobilized women in Bagh, Hajeera, Dhirkot, Neelum and Jhelum Valleys.
A Pakistan origin British woman set a glorious example by rebuilding an earthquake affected primary school in a far-flung village of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). 28-year-old Shireen Khan met the total expenditure of newly constructed building from her own pocket by spending all her savings that she earned while working for overtime.
Shireen Khan who is a nurse by profession, inaugurated the newly built primary school on Monday. She runs a charity known as Carrot Kids.
The new building is comprised of three classrooms, one office room and two washrooms along with other facilities constructed at a cost of approximately Rs. 2 million at Cheerban Punjkoot village, some 50 kilometres away from AJK Capital Muzaffarabad.
Shireen travelled from Britain to Muzaffarabad to watch her dreams coming true with tears in her eyes. She said that it was unbelievable for her that such a nice building was constructed in a small budget as compared to the public sector construction norms. She appreciated her local coordinators who made this possible raising her confidence in them.
She moved to Britain at the age of 3 years with her parents and got education in the United Kingdom. Later, she chose to work as a nurse as she wanted to help the humanity from her earning as was advised by her parents in the younger age.
While describing the reason to build a school in a remote village of Azad Kashmir, Shireen said that a picture in social media showed the children getting education in open area in snowy conditions. So, she decided to do something for this school and got motivated to construct the building. Then, she started working overtime to save money.
She contacted some local people through a person of the area living in United Kingdom and started sending money to them for the purpose and after completion they informed her but she said it was unbelievable for her that such a beautiful building could be constructed with such a small amount and decided to travel to see herself.
While talking to local media persons a day after inauguration of the school here on Tuesday, she expressed her desire to construct more schools in the area from her own income and savings. She said she was encouraged by the cooperation of the local friends in completion of this building with a very small amount and seeing young children studying in this building.
She said when she was a young girl, her parents used to advise her to help other people when she would start earning and had a dream to work for the people of her native country which become true with the competition of this small project.
She said it was the matter of satisfaction for her that her savings had been used for a noble cause and she was encouraged to work more for betterment of education and health sectors in Pakistan particularly in AJK.
She said if every Pakistani living abroad does the same; no child would remain out of school in the country and expressed optimism that others will follow her steps bringing the betterment in the country.
Social worker Shireen Khan meeting with Barrister Iftikhar Gilani, education minister AJK.
The actual enemy of India and Pakistan are poverty, discrimination and inequality and both countries should unite and fight them, not each other, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai said on Sunday. She was speaking to audiences at the Jaipur Literature Festival. This event is described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’ and the ‘Kumbh of literature’.
The 10-day Jaipur Literature Festival, started on February 19 and concluded on Sunday.
Malala also said that minorities need protection in every country, be it Pakistan or India, adding that the issue is not related to religion but to the “exploitation of power” and must be taken seriously.
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for girls’ education miraculously survived a bullet to the head from the militant Taliban in October 2012. She further said that news of internet shutdown and arrests of activists protesting peacefully in India was “worrying”. She expressed the hope that the Indian government would make sure that people were heard.
“It is my dream to see India and Pakistan become true good friends and that we can visit each other’s countries. You can continue to watch Pakistani dramas, we can continue to watch Bollywood movies and enjoy cricket matches,” the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner said.
She was speaking on her book “I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban” on the concluding day of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) which is being held in the virtual mode.
“You are Indian and I am Pakistani and we are completely fine, then why is this hatred created between us? This old philosophy of borders, divisions and divide and conquer… They just don’t work anymore, as humans we all want to live in peace,” she said.
Disclaimer: This is a personal reflection article and does not claim to be based on targeted primary data collection on the topic. My reflections stem from the conversations and stories shared by women from Kashmir during my travels across the region.
While deriving from the stories, I only seek to provide a broader framework for my argument and will not be revealing the identity or details of the stories that have been shared with me through bonds of trust.
I am blessed to have this opportunity to provide a safe space to my sisters and mothers in Kashmir and wish to ensure that I don’t misrepresent or misinterpret their voices in any way.
I seek to offend none and only write to advocate for evolving more safe spaces to build the context for a gender empowerment narrative in the region that is supported by the notion of cultural agency, suited to the spirit of “Kashmiriyat” as the women themselves see it through their own stories.
Having said that, this article forms the basis of my primary assessment as a peace-builder for more intended research efforts on the topic in the future.
I wish to clearly mention at the very outset that I write this article as an outsider, a Bengali woman hailing from a matriarchal cultural setting, seeking to understand the context for designing gender empowerment focused policy inputs in Jammu and Kashmir.
I am still learning and would love to receive feedback and alternative perspectives on the topic.
Introduction
Stories have always been my most preferred form or mode of getting to know and understand a new culture. As a Bengali woman working to support research on a number of development goals in Jammu and Kashmir, I always knew that local stories and experiences of the people would be invaluable for me to build my sense of cultural sensitivity to help me contextualize my work with the intention to better suit the needs of the people on the ground.
It is in this context that I write to present a preliminary observation pertaining to an important focus area for my work. I write today to outline my assessment of the lack of and consequent need for safe spaces to bring to life a narrative based on women’s stories and experiences to build the foundation for gender empowerment initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir.
Generous Warmth, Pain and Silence, the Womb for the birth of Power
It was during my visits to many a home while on my field trip across Kashmir( I have only travelled to a limited extent and have much more to see) that I first realized how the world-renowned hospitality of Jammu and Kashmir is a tradition held in place by women within the community.
They are the ones who invite you in and give you a sense of home. They are the ones who ensure that the essence of their culture seeps into your veins through the cheerful conversations at the hearth over steaming mugs of salty tea and bread, the ones who make that effort to go that extra mile to help you acclimatize and also offer you with a bountiful heart, their home, to help you settle down.
I have lost count of how many homes have opened up their doors to invite me to stay as a daughter.
This is the tradition, the best representation of treating the guest as no less than a blessed encounter. As I chatted with many a woman in many of the homes of my team members, their relatives and also people I met on the way, it struck me as truly interesting how Kashmiris welcomed people from all over the world to experience home in their land as if they were their kin but at the same time struggled to trust that they had a safe space as a reciprocal gesture from the world out there that seems to have forgotten them.
How much pain and a feeling of being forsaken could have pushed the Kashmiri people to love and embrace the world without any reciprocal expectation in return.
“Outsiders are all the same didi. They first give you hope and then disown you.” These were the words of a young girl who never failed to tell me how much she loved spending time with me.
There seemed to be a trauma of betrayal, a general sense of deep hurt.
This made me wonder if as an outsider, I had something to offer besides my research-related skills. Maybe I could offer a strategy to provide a safe space for stories untold and voices unheard of for years. Maybe I could be an ear for the voices of women to find their power as important stakeholders in defining their culture that they already do, albeit silently.
This young girl eventually shared with me her story and experiences and how she rose out of feelings of abandonment, exploitation and the craving for a safe space to be herself. As it stands, she wishes to be a religious educator one day in a school.
In Kashmir, as per my observations, there seems to be an evolved culture of more or less clear segregation of gender roles that is designed to suit the circumstances.
The conflict has torn and highly militarized as a region as Kashmir already is, besides the history of the population struggling repeatedly due to instances of broken promises, political fall-outs and externally triggered disruptions through an ever-evolving and dynamic trend in militancy, the region naturally stands as one of the least-favourable places to even rationally consider finding a crucible of psycho-emotional safe space for heart-felt sharing and outpouring of pain, especially for women.
The men are vigilant of their households( naturally so) and in the spirit of keeping their families safe, the women consciously seem to choose to facilitate the arrangement by maintaining a careful silence that is palpable but barely made visible.
As a facilitator trained to read silence while listening to various stakeholders, I decided to make a conscious effort to listen and connect deeper.
In some cases, stories eventually came out in cathartic outpourings and many a woman took to me as someone who they could instinctively trust to empathize with their silenced stories to some extent. It was on one of my visits to the home of a lady Police Officer that she shared her story of choosing to be a part of the State Security Structure back in the early 90s, during the heyday of the insurgency.
I suddenly found myself looking at empowerment as a response to circumstances, a conscious choice that this lady had made as an 18-year-old, 30 years back, to not let uncensored violence rip apart her life or her future like it had for many others. Her two daughters today aspire to be a business lawyer and an administrator though motivated to do so from afar sheltered reality as it stands now.
When this officer narrated to me her story, I witnessed her re-living the moments that shaped her choice and decision. I was taken back to the times when foreign militants from across the border would barge into homes, harass young women and stay in the homes of different people without any consideration of how the families perceived their invasive tendencies.
Sometimes young women from these households would be coerced to marry the militants and then inevitably they would be left at some point with fatherless children as the militants would be neutralized at the hands of the state or some would even flee without any notice.
During those days when joining the Police Force wasn’t exactly an applauded option for any young woman, this lady made the choice, supported by her family and is still serving the Police Force for over 25 years. Given this lady’s decision to join the Police Force came during the most unlikely times, despite the passage of thirty years and the militancy situation being somewhat in better control than yesteryears, you wouldn’t find many Kashmiri women coming forward to make the same choice today.
Maybe there could have been a different outcome? Maybe there could have been more women making such choices in the face of dire uncertainties and struggling it out had they been aware of such an existing story? We would never know.
Interestingly, it was this lady’s two daughters who encouraged her to share, hinting to me time and again that their mother had a story that was silenced. Clearly, they derived inspiration and strength from the story and wanted me to experience the same.
On probing why she wouldn’t share her story generally, I was told that it wasn’t safe to confide in people with stories of deep personal meaning and trauma. There was a sense of fear of ridicule and judgment that weighed down on the imposed silence.
To me, this particular case and story opened up the possibility of an existing empowerment narrative that is already present in the valley but silenced and not studied as a factor of post-traumatic growth for women. This lady had seen much harassment, much threat and despite all odds had remained firm on her choice.
Maybe there were more like her, leading the way, championing the cause of standing one’s ground and being decision-makers in their own stride.
As a policy researcher, I was stunned at the potency of such stories of courage and inspiration but my conflict analysis background told me that these stories needed the optimal environment to be brought to life as lived possibilities.
The silence for once appeared to me as a gestation period for the birth of power should the environment be fertile and conducive for the birthing process.
Over the period of a month as I listened deeper, I connected with women who are silently leading not only as matriarchs in households but also participating in elected posts at the behest of their menfolk to support change and the search for power by the community to be decision-makers and masters of their own fate.
Even in public posts, women taking up reserved seats are mostly seen to be supportive and silent in terms of addressing their own priorities and are mostly guided by their menfolk in deciding on community priorities in their official capacities.
As I travelled,I listened further to stories of women who have lost their dear ones to the militancy, witnessed torture of their family members, suffered lasting injuries as a result of the militancy and yet fought on to emerge wiser, stronger, shaping generations and thus the community and culture.
Curious eyes, giggles and hushed murmurs followed my footsteps everywhere as I met women from the cities, towns and villages.
I felt the silence everywhere but could earn only limited trust and opportunity to open up the safe space for story sharing. As the lady officer’s story inspired her daughters to look at the cultural agency of women in their context in an enabling light, maybe allowing such stories to be shared could inspire future generations of women to rethink possibilities for becoming a part of an existing empowerment narrative rather than a borrowed one that is usually peddled in mainstream discourses.
Maybe such stories can encourage women to decide for themselves that their roles are not defined by or limited to the conflict-driven idea of “safety” or “acceptability” and that local women have already laid the first steps to re-imagining empowering possibilities.
Measuring Possibilities in Story-sharing: Recommended Actions
Compassionate dialogue circles with the aid of trained facilitators and supportive psychologists could go a long way to bring out this narrative that is otherwise suppressed and soon endangered to be lost beyond recovery.
These narratives can in turn support the cause of women making a conscious choice to welcome gestures by advocates of gender equality to create a space for empowering opportunities. Opportunities are after all only useful when the target group finds it feasible and are encouraged to use such opportunities to their benefit as a mark of conscious choice.
Women need stories to thus frame a narrative that supports their sense of cultural agency to negotiate against the seeming trend.
In terms of the trend to silently support, there could evolve a way to create a culture of psycho-emotional safety and protection of privacy while developing the narrative from real-life stories.
Anonymity and confidentiality in story sharing circles and research documentation could be one way of ushering in trust to support the process.
Conclusion
In Kashmir, the silence of women appears to be a choice that is steeped in culturally adaptive motive, a trauma driven response and an attempt to foster the remains of a culture that is still seeking to stay rooted in the spirit of coexistence and community.
As one young woman and my peer mentioned; in her opinion, women here can never make it far while living in the region and they can barely do much.
I found myself instinctively responding to her exasperation with the following words, “It is the contrary actually. Hadn’t it been for the silent choice to be the sponge and the weaving net of the cultural fabric that you women have provided for generations, there would be no Kashmir. Maybe it is time to write that story together.”
Update (09:45 BST):. Two sisters from Pakistan-administered-Kashmir who had inadvertently crossed the line of control (LoC) have now been handed over to Pakistani authorities, local journalists on both sides have reported.
Jammu Links News tweeted a video statement by one of the girls which was made to local media. She said they had lost their way and entered Indian territory. “We feared that army personnel will beat us up but they treated us in a very good manner. We had thought they would not allow us to go back but today we are being sent home. People are very good here. ”
The girls being received by local authorities at Line-of-Control
Laiba Zabair (17) and her sister Sana Zabair (13), residents of Abbasspur in Kahuta Tehsil were detained by Indian security forces deployed along the LoC in Poonch sector. Referring to official sources, the media from Indian side of the disputed state reported that troops deployed along the LoC, having detected the crossing, exercised complete restraint to prevent any harm to the teenagers. The security forces’ spokesperson also said that efforts were being made for their early repatriation. However, the social media was replete with messages of urgent repatriation of the teenagers and unverified accounts inflitration. Many activists and social media warriors termed the incident as a deliberate effort. Kashish Khkhar said that our government should take immediate action and arrange for the return o the two sisters Laiba Zubair and Sana Zubair.
Fawad Habib Shah said that two teenage girls from Poonch accidently crossed cease fine line and now in the custody of Indian Forces. He also said prayers are for their safe return.
Muzaffarabad based journalist , Tariq Naqash reported a different story with an evidence from local police station . He was of the view that both girls are orphan from a penurious family. A report about their disappearance was lodged with Abbaspur police by their brother on Saturday night. It seems they took the step to cross the LoC 5km away from home in a fit of emotion after some family squabble.
Kashmir has always been in grip of one or another kind of crisis. The dark clouds of uncertainty loom over the echoing mountains from last several decades. The prolonged conflict has transformed the beautiful valley into a devastating dystopia, forcing the whole community to fight a life and death battle against the threat of extinction from the tyrant tides of war. Similarly, continuous violence has turned conventional morality upside down, engulfing pure and white, young and old, women and children alike. Here, children are cradled by conflict as such fear and trauma occupy their early emotional state. Their subsequent formative years are ruined by the recurrent nightmares of devastation. They are the remains of the dreadful days, a liability upon the history, the voiceless, voices of despair and degeneration.
Childhood is that period in life which everyone wants to re-visit or live eternally, because it is characterized by uncorrupted nature, purity and serenity. But children living in conflict riddled Kashmir do not enjoy instinctively idyllic and pleasant childhood days of vigor, energy and a free spirit, to roam and bloom in an unadulterated world of dreams and fairy tales. They are even forbidden to give ear to imaginary tales of fancy and fantasy, deemed to incite libido of resistance. The lures of love and sleep inducing lullabies doesn’t satiate them any more in the mists of gloom and glum that surround their small spaces like the shades of an eternal doom. They are suffocated by enduring suppression. An organized violence enforces them to surrender their whims and wishes, their charms and heavenly grace to solace unrecognized voices of bereavement, mourning and misfortune.
In Kashmir, life of children has been a mark of woe! A mark worry! Their fate is akin to and resembles caged birds unable to set themselves free or stretch their wings in order to touch the sky, for accomplishment of sky of dreams. They are literary limped creatures who can neither walk through the lane nor wade into lake; even they cannot waft along the waves as the western breeze smells, the smell of death, it carries the communal rot of conflict from the debris of dying dreams. The mighty towers of hegemony, the tsunami of religious hatred and the alarms of army tear their childhood apart to feel an adult pain; the agony Kashmir children felt from ages, through colonial rages and internal ravages.
Kashmir crisis has swallowed up their agile spaces like the sand absorbs the sea. The phony fun of the city life, the battered beats of time, and the world dark and wide curse them for being their companions and mock them for not harboring the hope to nurture the eerie of childhood dream, of sunshine and flowers, of everlasting enjoyment, happiness and serenity. The long curfewed nights stagnates their future dreams; the lines of division drawn in the middle of the mid night, the accession signed amidst the howling cries created iron walls of anger and mind forged manacles of memory. The vernal breeze asks their sport but the fear of winter chill keep them aloof, the smiling tulips urge them bloom, but the buds and blossoms plead them to drink an autumn death as the approaching winter will wither them grey.
Childhood comes once, lives for once and is enjoyed by once. There is nothing like twice, thrice or next, there are no backward-forward movements that could transport us into childhood transparency, no elixir to revert us back in order to re-vitalize our days of youthful hilarity. There is nothing! No alchemy to transform human beings into primitive chora or oral stage. The deadlock is locked between semiotic and symbolic, between real and imaginary. There are only mirrors that reflect us along thousand others, only signifiers that trace us within thousand traces. So, the only thing left is to provide disadvantageous children a chance to seize the merry moments and enjoy the most.
But the question arises do we provide Kashmir children a chance to live a happy childhood? The answer would be an affirmative no! Infact, in Kashmir, children are cradled by conflict. The fierce waves of war have violated their years of innocence. The forces of calm and combat have always encroached their childhood premises. They grow up in the glowing bars of gun battles. The stones and swords muster their courage against the imminent shadows of disease and death. They are unjustly fixed together in the patches of conflict like the pieces of an unsolved puzzle. They have only been left with the choices of dullness and burden, survival and suffering, loss and longing.
The bright August day brought darker nights of neglect. It was a long summer day when our past became a frozen fact, a dawn of disjuncture from the mythic place of desire. It was a queer, sultry summer, when scenes were scripted before the secret siege. The imaginary home reconstructed through childhood memories have been irretrievably lost. It was a time when we had everything before us, we had nothing before us. It was an era of war on peace when Kashmir was landed into a foreign land. Since then Kashmir children are locked in the recurrent lockdowns and packed in the patches of conflict. They are caught between Covid and conflict, calm and combat, death and despair. The conflict cradles them by the tunes of torment and cursed normalcy has captured their calm despair. They are the unspoken voices of crisis, the silent sufferers of our simmering summer, and the causality of our courageous combats. From now, do they deserve much kinder times? The god’s of war amiably don’t-think-so, until it gets pretty late!
Research by scholars at Quaid-i- Azam University, Islamabad has explored the role of socio-demographic factors with Piri Muri di within the indigenous context of Pakistan.
The participants were taken from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and Mansehra.
Their age ranged from 18-73 years. The results revealed that women were more inclined toward Piri-Muridi and have more perception of negative change in Piri-Muridi as compared to men.
The married individuals scored significantly higher as compared to single persons on the facets of the belief system about Piri-Muridi.
Similarly, the non-believers of Piri-Muridi have a more negative perception of change in Piri-Muridi as compared to strong believers and Murids.
Ahly hadees sect showed a strong negative perception regarding Piri-Muridi as compared to Ahly Sunnat brelvi. Piri-Muridi relationship is widely been practiced in Indo-Pak region (Pinto, 1995; Younas & Kamal, 2019).
The relationship has its origin in religion but in order to know the psycho-social perspective of Piri-Muridi, it is necessary to understand the yet to understand its psychosocial perspective, there is a need to understand the views of various social scientists.
The sociological study of Piri–Muridi by Turner (as cited in Deflam, 1991) raised few queries;would belief in any supernatural being (Pir) be made part of religious studies.
If the answer is yes then how this PiriMuridi relationship should be explained in perspectives of religion, how it could be theoretically explained and what about the interaction between the common man and superhuman beings which we call as Pir.
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For finding the answers to these queries, Turner conducted various sociological studies on religious perspectives, religious beliefs, and religious rituals.
He reached the conclusion that the studies on religious perspectives do not merely require understanding the religious teachings but its main focus is to understand and explain the role of religion in one’s life and to compare the conditions and effects religion has on different people with different beliefs.
Another viewpoint was given by Spiro, (as cited in Pinto, 1995) that focuses on the influence of Pir in one’s socio-emotional life.
Similarly, Horton (as cited in Pinto, 1995) put the effort into understanding the dynamics of the relationship of man with God and the interaction between human beings which he named as Piri-Muridi relationship.
He was of the opinion that superhuman beings (Pirs) and God have huge differences as God is the divine power while there also exist some similarities between God and man’s traits which are indeed blessed by God to super human beings (Pirs).
These traits include submission, guidance, support for people, anger, wrath, etc. Hence, the theories and assumptions used to explain the relationship of God with a man can also be used to explain the relationship of master and disciple or Pir (superhuman being blessed with divine traits) and Murid (who have taken the Bayt (discipleship) from Pir and is a follower of Pir).
The Piri-Muridi relationship is deeply rooted in Pakistani society and culture. It is the central concept in religious life and Sufism (Alario, 2003).
The belief in Piri-Muridi relationship is central to consider because some people strongly belief in this whereas other strongly disagree and consider it sin and bid’at(unnecessary additions in religious practices) in religion. It is the belief system that directs one’s strong affirmations towards a certain phenomenon (Zinnbauer et al., 2015). The present research is an endeavor to explore the belief system and role of one’s demographic characteristics in attitudes towards beliefs provide a vertical framework for explaining how things should beand areresistant to change.
Thoughts, behavior, feelings, attitudes, and decision of people are greatly influenced by widely held beliefs (Pechey & Halligan, 2012).Beliefs may provide an explanatory framework for understanding attitudes, processing incoming information, and interpreting the world (Wyer & Albarracín, 2005).
When people face such situations that threaten their shared beliefs, then people attempt to resolve inconsistencies by seeking to restore the underlying sense of meaning.
The consistency and coherence in people’s beliefs remains same even if they listen anything contradictory to their belief system, they will try to quickly reconcile and integrate new observations with already held previous observations and may try to give alternative explanations for their beliefs and affirmations.
This adaptive function of beliefs allows them to adjust in their environment in greater capacity (Connors & Halligan, 2014). Same is the case with people that they had widely held belief system regarding PiriMuridi practices. Those who strongly believe in Piri-Muridi have belief about Pir as a positive figure and if they are provided with any information that is contradictory to their positive beliefs about Pirs, they attempt to resolve that inconsistency by seeking to restore the underlying sense of meaning. Moreover, people were categorized as strong believers of Piri-Muridi, situational believers of Piri-Muridi, and non-beliebers of Piri-Muridi just on the basis of their belief system. Bhatti, (2013) found that people belonging from Shia have more favorable attitude towards Piri-Muridi and along that also have strong belief on Piri-Muridi as compared to people belonging from Ahlay-Hadees sect.
A study by Sadique, Gaho, and Bukhari, (2015) found that the Shia sect strongly believes in the Imamat (leadership) of Hazrat Ali (A.S) Qadam Gah Moula Ali (k w). In order to get spiritual healing, many of the devotees stayed at the shrine. They had a firm belief that Hazrat Ali (kw) was the Auliya (friend) of Allah. After they had finished the Mannats, these spirituality seekers presented Nazrana (xenium) in the form of twinkling flowers, sweets, Daigs (caldron), Bakras (billy goats), etc. They present the gifts to the Mutawali (Pir) with utmost devotion as they considered that it will add more blessings to their life and they will make their way to Paradise. Furthermore, the study also found that most of the rituals are performed at Qadam Gah to gain mental and spiritual satisfaction and the followers are of the view that Imams of the shrine is the best way to reach God.
In other words, the study revealed that people consider Pir as a mediator between them and Allah, the Almighty. Another study found that people belonging from Shia sect who used to visit Sufi shrines more often and in large amount as compared to people of other sects. Moreover, the study found that among the major rituals performed at shrines were touching the tomb, kissing the tomb, tasting the salt, touching the oil lamp, not Influence of Socio-Demographic Features on Piri-Muridi: An Experiential Study 6 turning back towards the tomb and Chadar charhana. Among belief system of people, it was found that participants had perception that God listen to their (Pir’s) prayers more than ordinary people. Pir’s are mediator between God and us and Pir can change their fate (Khan & Sajid, 2011).
Ahly-Sunat and Ahly-Hadees. People belonging from Deoband sect of Islam, in the province of Punjab, are not small in number but also different from the Pakhtoon people. Contrary to Pakhtoons, they are more welcoming for Sufis and their shrines. Sometimes, even the traditional mullahs who were trained in Deoband madaris in Punjab adopt typical practices of Brailvi sect to save their jobs (Metcalf, 1984).
These mullahs call themselves as Ahly-Sunnat which in Punjabi villages is viewed as brailvis while deobandi are perceived as Ahly-Hadees. Hence, the division between DeobandiPakhtoon axis and that of Sufi Punjabi axis is not clear. Rural Punjab has also some influence of Deobandi sect. There also exists non Pakhtoon population among the Pakhtoons, a number of Pakhtoons also stick to the Sufis mainly the Deoband Sufi (Choudhry, 2010).
It is clearly evident that people of AhlySunnat brelvi, and Shia sect have more favorable attitude towards Piri-Muridi(Younas, 2017)but here itis also essential to know the gender differences other than the religious sect that whether women are more inclined towards Piri-Muridi or men.
As far as gender differences are concerned on the construct of Piri-Muridi within Pakistani context, it was found that men were more inclined towards praying and performing different rituals for getting job, promotion in job, and increase in the business whereas women visited Sufi shrines for other purposes. These included domestic issues including children education, marriage proposals, domestic disputes and family conflicts. In this regard, Farooq and Kiyani (2012) also found that women visit Sufi shrines for mannats (asking of favors through medium of Pirs) and other reasons including marriage proposals of their daughters, treatment of medical illness, pregnancy, elimination of conflicts, getting good grades etc.
George and Sreedhar (2006) found that gender had a great impact on the belief system towards superstitions variable with women showing more illogical and irrational beliefs as compared to men. With gender, marital status also holds significant importance which needs to be explored and our study is a step forward to analyze the differences across marital status on Piri-Muridi for the first time. Marital status. Married people were found to have more favorable attitudes towards Piri-Muridi as compared to unmarried and single (Bhatti, 2013; Malik, 2007).
Married participants have more responsibilities as compared to single individuals, they face more problems related to fertility issues, children, economic resources etc. for which they seek more services of Pirs more often as compared to unmarried people who do not have such problems. Influence of Socio-Demographic Features on Piri-Muridi: An Experiential Study 8 With matrimonial status, age is also linked that is explored in our study. Though recent research (Younas & Kamal, 2017 a, b; Younas & Kamal, 2018) provides enough grounds that how Piri Muridi acts as medium between a common man and God yet there is much to be explored specifically in our cultural context with reference to Piri-Muridi. The scope of the present study is based on demographic data. As it is a well-known fact that demographic characteristics can provide often valuable descriptions of social issues yet the accurate numerical figures are often very difficult to achieve especially in relation to sensitive issues like Piri Muridi and demographic understandings of social patterns and structures are continuously shifting with respect to the availability of better measurement tools and more accurate data (Micklin & Poston, 2006).
Our study is a step forward towards understanding the demographic factors will give possible explanations for a psycho-social issue of Piri-Muridi and pave way towards building complex theories to explain this sociological phenomenon particularly at the societal levels. Demographic analysis is a powerful tool that can explain a number of sociological phenomena. The present research in sequel to previous researches on belief system and role of demographic factors with Piri-Muridi will add valuable information that how one’s beliefs explain people attitude towards Piri-Muridi and what role psychosocial characteristics play among various categories of religious people. Specifically, the objective of the study was to assess the role of various demographic characteristics (belief system, religious sect, gender, marital status, and age) with attitudes toward Piri-Muridi.
Believers of Piri-Muridi think that they get spirituality and bonding with God through karamaat and blessed waseela (intercession) of Pirs. The results are also supported by Bhatti, (2013). This case is quite obvious as non-believers totally negate the phenomenon of Piri-Muridi and consider it fake practices and show strong perception of changes in Piri-Muridi institute. While situational believers may have belief that they are spiritual healers may help in removing negativity from their life and Murids have taken ba’it from Pirs and are quiet dependent on Pirs (Aziz, 2001). They consider them their guidance, role model, teacher, and healer.
Editor’s Note: This is an abridged version of the full research paper titled “Influence of Socio-Demographic Features on Piri-Muridi: An Experiential Study” that can be downloaded here. The researcher can be contacted at sana_y15@nip.edu.pk.
A narrow path winds through Kashmir’s Valley of Pearls (a name given to scenic Rawalakot valley) towards 13 tin-roofed shops hidden in a rickety row, a women-only market that doubles as a space for those seeking help against the violence of Pakistan’s patriarchy.
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The market, in a small village outside the main city of Rawalakot in a conservative corner of Azad Kashmir, began simply as a place run by women for women.
There they could buy and sell sewing supplies, visit clothing boutiques or train as beauticians — a welcome outlet for many struggling with the restraints on women in the deeply traditional Muslim area.
Social worker Nusrat Yousuf, who works with victims of domestic violence through the non-governmental organisation (NGO) she heads, helped persuade a generous landlord to provide the land to set up the market in 2011.
Women in the area, she says, are forbidden by their families to work in the main markets in the area’s towns and cities.
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“They become frustrated when they can’t get jobs and spend their lives at home,” the 48-year-old widow tells AFP. The market, from which men were at first banned, provided a way around conservative beliefs, making women “economically strong”.
Yousuf describes it as a place “where they can visit and freely discuss all their issues — such as childbirth, menstruation, cooking, and domestic issues, and we find solutions”.
That increasingly includes how to help divorced women and victims of domestic violence lodge complaints with police and fight their cases in the courts.
Women have battled for their rights for decades in Pakistan. Hundreds are murdered each year — usually by male relatives — in so-called “honour killings” and disfiguring acid attacks are still common.
Rights groups and politicians have for years called for tougher laws to tackle perpetrators of violence against women in Pakistan.
“Police were not arresting an influential man who cut off the nose of his wife three months ago,” she says, describing just one of the cases she has handled from her office in the market.
“She approached us, and our NGO staged a protest against police,” Yousuf explains, adding that she then met with police officials and lodged a complaint. “Now the culprit is in police custody. We have hired a female lawyer to fight the case,” she says.
Razia Bibi, a 35-year-old mother of two whose husband divorced her five months ago, described how Yousuf is helping her navigate the courts to seek alimony from her children’s father.
“I am hopeful that the verdict will be in my favour,” she says.
Yousuf says her NGO, the Pearl Rural Support Programme, which brings together women’s organisations in seven local villages, is also lobbying the government for a separate desk for women at every police station, where they can speak to a female officer “more comfortably”.
Yousuf says that, originally, men were banned from entering the market. Now they can enter — but only in the company of a woman.
The market has made life easier, says customer Ayesha Bibi. “We had to travel to the main markets for such things in the past, and we needed the company of a male family member to go there,” she explains.
It is also providing economic opportunity for those such as computer graduate Sara Rasheed, whose family refused her permission to work in any area dominated by men.
She convinced them to allow her to open a beauty parlour and a garment shop in the market, she says. “I am earning a good income and saving lots of money for my future and family,” she adds proudly.
Khurshid Begum, a 42-year-old widow and mother of four, opened a tailor’s shop and teaches sewing to young girls there.
“My business has flourished… My income has increased,” she says.
“We are trying to make more and more women skillful in future,” Yousuf says. “I am very happy that I am achieving my goal.” The article was first published here in daily Dawn.
Reporting from within a conflict zone requires an extra amount of effort and understanding to ensure that news is set in a proper context and perspective, to avoid misinformation and spreading rumours.
The two-decade long conflict in the Indian administered region of Kashmir has an impact on everything for people living there, from education to general lifestyle, and the field of journalism is no exception.
Over the years, more women have begun to register their presence in the field of journalism for a number of
reasons, and Doha Centre for Media Freedom (DCMF) spoke to some of these journalists to explore how and why they have taken up this work, and the challenges they face.
Afsana Bhat has been reporting in Kashmir for around 15 years, and believes it has helped her to better understand general issues and to engage socially.
Insight on Kashmir 